Where’s the love? Japanese feel unhappy, unloved and pessimistic

The results of a Pew Opinion survey released in July 2013 found that the public mood in Japan is improving but remains “mostly one of dissatisfaction.” However, that dissatisfaction is 10 percent lower than the level registered in 2007 during Shinzo Abe’s first spell as premier.

Pew conducted the survey in March-April 2013, and its results also show that 71 percent of Japanese think economic conditions are bad, with just 40 percent expecting improvement in the national economy in the next year. A mere 12 percent think their own situation will improve, while only 15 percent expect that today’s children will be better off than their parents.

The findings of this survey conducted under the auspices of the The Pew Research Center, a Washington-based think tank, suggest that Abe-phoria is muted; overall Abe’s “favorable” rating was a stratospheric 71 percent, but only 15 percent of respondents declared themselves “very favorable,” while 56 percent said they were “somewhat favorable” — showing support for him is lukewarm.

Since then, Abe’s popularity in Japanese media polls has dropped to 60 percent, which is still enviable compared to predecessors, though there is a sense that he has peaked and the honeymoon is over as media scrutiny intensifies in the wake of his party’s recent Upper House election triumph.

With 90 percent of Japanese reporting in recent domestic polls that they haven’t yet benefited from Abenomics, spurring perceptions that it is welfare for the wealthy, there is growing concern that Japan’s new version of trickle-down will leave the vulnerable high and dry while plans for labor-market deregulation will cause a hollowing out of the middle class.

Meanwhile, the precariat of non-regular workers in low-paid, dead-end employment without job security has spiked to 38 percent of the entire labor force. They are definitely not feeling the love — and because they are skint, they contribute to deflation, fiscal woes and low fertility because The Beatles were not entirely right about money and love.

Interestingly, fewer Japanese have a very favorable opinion of Japan now (22 percent) than in 2007 (30 percent) during Abe ver. 1.0. A solid majority (56 percent) oppose Abe’s agenda of changing war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution, with just 36 percent overall in favor. Among women, however, only 28 percent favor constitutional revision.

Around the region, Pew found mixed perceptions of Japan. They were extremely positive in Malaysia (80 percent), Indonesia (79 percent), Australia (78 percent) and the Philippines (78 percent) — but, as one would expect, unfavorable opinion is sky high in China (90 percent) and South Korea (77 percent), where perceptions have soured considerably since previous polls.

Unresolved historical grievances are a significant factor in Japan’s negative image in East Asia; 98 percent of South Koreans and 78 percent of Chinese don’t think Japan has sufficiently apologized for its military actions in the 1930s and ’40s. In contrast, Japan is seen to be insufficiently contrite by just 47 percent of Filipinos, 40 percent of Indonesians and 30 percent of Malaysians and Australians.

Interestingly, 26 percent of Australians agree on “no apology necessary” — the highest such sentiment by far in the region. Given that Aussies were baying for Emperor Hirohito (posthumously known as Emperor Showa) to be prosecuted for war crimes following Japan’s surrrender in 1945, and with POWs from Down Under having kept their brutal treatment at the hands of Japanese captors in the public eye throughout the post-World War II era, it is somewhat surprising that so many Australians are now ready to let Japan off the hook.

Only 28 percent of Japanese believe that Japan has not sufficiently apologized for its wartime conduct, while 48 percent think it has and 15 percent believe that no apology is needed. It is also surprising to learn that 63 percent of Japanese think the past is no longer their problem and 73 percent of younger Japanese (aged 18 to 29) believe the issue of Japanese war guilt is behind them. If true, this is a dangerous, self-deluding fantasy because Japanese don’t get to decide when Japan’s depredations in the past no longer matter.

It also marks a stunning shift, as polls since the early 1990s have consistently indicated that most Japanese don’t think their government has done enough to acknowledge war responsibility and atone for Japan’s misdeeds.

It’s worth noting, too, that Pew’s survey was conducted before three Cabinet ministers, including Deputy Prime Minster Taro Aso, and a phalanx of 168 Diet members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, flocked to Yasukuni Shrine in April 2013, and before Abe quibbled about wartime aggression in the Diet — both actions that provoked considerable international and domestic criticism.

Newspaper polls indicate that 75 percent of Japanese repudiated nationalist politician Toru Hashimoto’s dubious apologist comments on wartime sex slaves. This suggests that the Pew findings might not be a reliable gauge of public sentiments about wartime history, as the survey question was about “military actions” in general — with no specific reference to atrocities or horrific incidents.

The best assessment of Japanese attitudes about war responsibility remains Sven Saaler’s book, “Politics, Memory and Public Opinion” (2005). His findings suggest that the Japanese people accept war responsibility and disagree with efforts by conservative elites to airbrush the past.

Despite longstanding whitewashing and a chorus of denials, could Japan be suffering from apology fatigue?

Nationalist hawks like Abe and Shintaro Ishihara have slammed what they refer to as Japan’s “masochistic history” and “apology diplomacy.” While Chinese and South Koreans are flabbergasted by claims that Japan has overindulged self-flagellation about its shared history with Asia, Japanese conservatives complain that dwelling on this horrid history prevents the nation’s young from taking pride in their country. But hijacking history to stoke jingoism is undignified and needlessly antagonizes nations victimized by Japanese aggression.

Personally, Abe is predictably unpopular in China and South Korea, with an 85 percent negative rating in each country. The Pew pollsters speculate that this may be related to his 2012 visit to Yasukuni Shrine, where Japan’s Class-A war criminals are enshrined — but perhaps it’s because he is well known for his efforts to beautify Japanese history and disregard the suffering Imperial Japan inflicted on its neighbors.

The Pew survey also found that 60 percent of Japanese feel they are not accorded enough respect around the world. Alas, Pew didn’t have any questions asking Japanese why they aren’t feeling the love. This may have to do with Japanese anxieties about the country’s declining influence and the fact the future might be China’s.

A Pew survey conducted in the United States earlier this year found that “just 6 percent of Americans cite Japan as an economic powerhouse today, compared with almost half who thought Tokyo was top dog in 1990.”

Regarding this, the pollsters opined: “One reason may be that China has replaced Japan as America’s principal trade competitor, both in fact and in the minds of the American people. In 1990, Japan accounted for 40.7 percent of the U.S. merchandise trade deficit. China made up just 10.3 percent. By 2012, Japan accounted for only 10.5 percent of the U.S. global imbalance. China was responsible for 43.3 percent.”

Perhaps Japanese can take some solace from knowing that despite ups and downs in bilateral relations, two-thirds of the U.S. respondents think well of Japan — the same level as in 1990.

“….believe the issue of Japanese war guilt is behind them. If true, this is
a dangerous, self-deluding fantasy because Japanese don’t get to decide
when Japan’s depredations in the past no longer matter.”

0_0 … If not Japanese, then who gets to decide what’s behind them ??

TBL

The victims of Japanese war.

taopai

Which includes Japanese population….
Anyway, I don’t believe war victims hold any right to put shame on young Japanese which have nothing to do with what happened 70 years ago!

Christopher-trier

There is something interesting in the breakdown of the poll figures. People in Australia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and the United States — all countries that suffered at Japanese hands during the war — have broadly favourable views of Japan and the Japanese. The only two that still hold grudges as a group are China and Korea. Even the Taiwanese are broadly pro-Japan, so what does this say? Perhaps it is not so much the war itself as it is other historical baggage that cannot easily be solved.

taopai

Exactly!
I believe the main reason behind these perception differences is the education.
It is not a secret that in China and Korea childen are more or less taught to resent Japanese people as a whole.
While in countries like the Philippines, students are told about war atrocities but no explicit link is made to the contemporary Japanese.

Obviously China’s CCP and North Korea’s leaders needed virtual enemies to strengthen their political legitimacy so Japan and the USA were perfect scapegoats.
However I have a lot of trouble to understand why South Korea followed the same path of propaganda.

Spudator

The Pew survey also found that 60 percent of Japanese feel they are not accorded enough respect around the world. Alas, Pew didn’t have any questions asking Japanese why they aren’t feeling the love.

Perhaps the world has never loved the Japanese, just all those those nice products from transistor radios to cars that the Japanese bestowed on the world from the sixties to the nineties. Now that countries like China and Korea have taken over from Japan as the world’s leading factory states, making Japan largely irrelevant on the international stage, the horrible truth about the nature of Japan’s past relationship with the rest of the planet has probably become clear to the Japanese.

It must be quite a shock, having for years believed that people adored you for your charm and good looks, to discover that the only thing they cared about were the presents you kept giving them, and that as soon as someone offering nicer presents came along, they didn’t hesitate to dump you. No wonder the Japanese are feeling depressed.

1derer

You seem to be misinterpreting the data to support your own views. The poll showed that Japanese don’t think they’re respected, and said nothing about whether they actually are. On the other hand:

Perhaps Japanese can take some solace from knowing that despite ups and downs in bilateral relations, two-thirds of the U.S. respondents think well of Japan — the same level as in 1990.

So, attitudes about Japan are as positive as they have ever been in at least one major country.

Regarding your claims that Japan is irrelevant:
In terms of nominal GDP, South Korea is the world’s 11th largest industrial nation. Japan is third behind the U.S. (2nd), and China (1st), and right in front of Germany (4th).
Given that Germany is currently using its industrial sector to prop up the entire EU, it doesn’t follow that Japan is somehow irrelevant with their larger industrial sector.
In fact, according to the IMF, Japan is important enough to the global economy that should Abenomics fail, the world could be plunged into another recession.

Roan Suda

Ah, Japan-bashing is such an easy pseudo-sport! It’s like shooting fish in a barrel. No wonder it attracts such bullies–and such losers!

Spudator

Goodness me! I do believe I’ve just been savaged by the Web’s answer to the Jimmy Carter killer rabbit. Do you remember that incident? Wikipedia describes the whole thing in a very informative article that contains this gem of a quote from Jody Powell, the White House Press Secretary during Carter’s presidency:

The animal was clearly in distress, or perhaps berserk. The President confessed to having had limited experience with enraged rabbits. He was unable to reach a definite conclusion about its state of mind. What was obvious, however, was that this large, wet animal, making strange hissing noises and gnashing its teeth, was intent upon climbing into the Presidential boat.

Oh my poor, aching sides; it’s just too funny. An enraged rabbit of indeterminate state of mind making strange hissing noises—that’s you and your petty, snappish attack on me to a T. Thank you for giving me the best belly-laugh I’ve had in ages. I really am sorry it’s at your expense. (Well, I’m not that sorry.)

You know, on reading your bilious little remark, I was going to respond by pointing out what a thoroughly rude, aggressive and unpleasant person you are, and how, in view of that characterisation, you’ve got a real nerve calling me a bully and a loser. I was even going to suggest that your boorishness perfectly exemplifies the maxim that we criticise in others that which we most fear in ourselves, a maxim that probably explains why your kind of sneering hypocrisy is so prevalent in Web forums.

But Powell’s delightfully humorous description of the rabbit incident, when used as a metaphor for your own hare-brained attack, reveals your true colours more eloquently than anything I ever could write.